Let me start by saying I was not a big Carnival fan. Was on the Sensation a few years ago, realizing it was an older smaller boat, expectations were not set that high, but it was bad. the Splendor got me excited about Carnival again. We have a family of six, and always cruise with another family of 4, so if there was something to complain about trust me I would hear about it. Kids range from 12-20, most of which were in that 13-14 range. we booked on the Splendor because of price. it was a New Years cruise, so when I went to book, everything was higher than you know what. For some reason the Splendor was not as bad price wise, kinda scary on why initially? We left for Miami Christmas Day, spent a couple days on south beach before the cruise and boarded on December 28th and it was Absolutely Awesome . Great weather, great ports, great service, great food. The Splendor is in a class of its own, a retrofitted Costa boat. it has not had the Funship 2.0 and all the upgrades yet, but it was clean and had plenty of stuff for adults and kids. the Kids loved the Circle C club at night , the sea side movies were cool, and the adults were at the George Lopez Laugh liner comedy club each night . The comedy club was awesome. Being a New Years Cruise it had a nice New Years eve formal dinner, and also a countdown to new years part on the pool deck.

We have sailed with RC in the past, and don't get me wrong they are awesome too, but this past trip on the Splendor really did get me excited about Carnival again. So much we are already booked on the Dream for this year. Don't be afraid of the Splendor. Sure there are nicer ships but she holds her own.